<p>I'm an international applicant hoping to do economics and psychology. I've made it into these four colleges and can't choose between them. I'm listing towards wellesley and haverford but I'd welcome any insight you might have.</p>
<p>All great schools, obviously, each appealing chiefly to a slightly different personality, I think. I visited all of them when I was a high school junior, although of the four I only applied to Wellesley. I really liked Vassar–seemed to be an excellent school with a very charming campus, nice culture, etc, although I didn’t care for Poughkeepsie. I ended up not applying just because I already had a full list and I didn’t feel any particular pull towards the school in the end. Haverford and Wesleyan quite frankly I didn’t care for. Haverford I found too small (my high school had 3600 students so Haverford is about a third the size!), and I didn’t particularly care for the campus, and I found my tour guide rather mushy. The fit just wasn’t there for me. However the consortium with Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr is a great plus–a way to get your women’s college experience at least a little. Wesleyan was just totally wrong for me. I didn’t care for the way they presented the unstructured curriculum, I didn’t care for the campus, and I didn’t care for my tour guides. Just…wasn’t right for me. I will say, that they had either a then senior or a new alum working the information session, and he was very impressive. So I don’t doubt that there are excellent students and an excellent education at Wesleyan, but it was totally wrong for me. And I would guess (not knowing ANYTHING about you, of course!), that if you are leaning towards Wellesley or Haverford you might not find the fit at Wesleyan very good. Just a gross generalization from my impressions of the three colleges and their students (don’t want people from Wesleyan to drop in and yell at me!). </p>
<p>Of course I think you should come to Wellesley! We’re a band of absurdly loyal women, we have a great econ department (I double majored in econ and math so I know what of I speak), you can cross-register at MIT, you have good access to Boston (Haverford has good access to Philadelphia, Vassar (I believe, don’t eviscerate me if I’m off) has okay access to NYC, and Wesleyan comes in last being out in the middle of Connecticut)–it’s just tops :). Seriously though, all of your choices are great and it just depends on which one fits you the best. Good luck choosing!</p>
<p>All great choices. Study the website.</p>
<p>Thanks, your reply’s been reallly helpful. I’d visited Vassar and Wellesley last summer as well, and I found Vassar very isolated- although, of course, it was summer and there was hardly anybody around. I suppose it’s different during the semester, but I don’t think I’m a great fit for the College. I’ve never been to Haverford, but I really liked what I heard from my interviewer. I think I’m okay with small colleges, because my school is tiny- there are maybe 300 kids in the senior wing- and I think I tend to get lost in a crowd. I don’t think I care much for an unstructured curriculum which eliminates Wesleyan.
I’d love to hear more about the campus life at Wellesley.</p>
<p>Wellesely . . . is it that hard? Of course, if you love Vassar (and I do) it gets hard. Other than that. the answer is Wellesley.</p>
<p>I live very close to Vassar and I’ve spent a lot of time in Poughkeepsie. All I have to say about Vassar is that I’m sure it’s a fantastic school but the location sucks. Poughkeepsie is sketchy at best, and not very close to nicer places (Rhinebeck is maybe a 30 minute drive and would be a much better college town!).</p>
<p>If I were you I’d pick Haverford! Mostly for the tri-co. I’ve been to Swat and Bryn Mawr numerous times and both campuses (really, all three) are gorgeous. Philadelphia is also easily accessible by SEPTA, so no car necessary, and it’s nice to visit (though I’m sure it has not-so-nice areas similar to Poughkeepsie). Having the super close bi-co relationship between Haverford and Bryn Mawr is also really advantageous to the students. </p>
<p>I’ve been to Wellesley, too, but I didn’t like it that much. Just not my cup of tea, as someone else sort of said. It was a very nice campus but it didn’t click for me like Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke did. Like Haverford, I know you can cross-register at some other colleges. Still, I just think the Haverford-Swarthmore-Bryn Mawr tri-co is top notch.</p>
<p>Best of luck in choosing (:</p>
<p>I chose HC over Wellesley for the reasons that Cwhaticando mentioned. I also decided that I would have a better time at a co-ed school since most of my friends tended to be males, which ended up being the case with my two best friends being an HC male and a Swarthmore male.</p>
<p>Tri-Co is amazing. It’s like going to 3 colleges. Travel between the campuses is super easy with the Swat van and the Blue bus. You also have triple events.</p>
<p>HC has a great Econ department and now you can also take classes at Wharton as an econ major: [Haverford</a> College: Academic Partnerships](<a href=“http://www.haverford.edu/academics/partnerships.php]Haverford”>http://www.haverford.edu/academics/partnerships.php)
The econ department sends out a newsletter to alumni with highlights from the department, professor research, events and senior profiles.</p>
<p>I didn’t take any psychology while at HC, but have heard good things about the program specially since you can take classes at Bryn Mawr and choose which of the two programs you want to do.</p>
<p>All those schools are great so good luck!!</p>